Verbena plant named ‘Balwilapi’

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct Verbena plant named ‘Balwilapi’, characterized by its lavender pink flowers, mounded trailing habit, and dark green leaves.

LATIN NAME OF GENUS AND SPECIES OF PLANT CLAIMED

Verbena hybrida.

VARIETY DENOMINATION

‘Balwilapi’.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a new and distinct verbena plant,botanically known as Verbena hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by thecultivar name ‘Balwilapi’.

The new cultivar was developed by the inventor through a controlledbreeding program during 1998, at Arroyo Grande, Calif. The objective ofbreeding program was the development of verbena cultivars withsemi-trailing mounded habit, continuous flowering, excellent basalbranching and small dark green foliage.

The female (seed) parent of ‘Balwilapi’ was the commercially availableverbena ‘Quartz Blue’ (not patented), which exhibits dark purpleflowers, upright growth habit and medium green foliage. The male(pollen) parent of ‘Balwilapi’ was ‘Temari Violet’ (not patented), whichexhibits dark lavender flowers, a trailing growth habit and medium greenfoliage.

Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings inArroyo Grande, Calif. and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that thecharacteristics of the new cultivar as herein described are firmly fixedand are retained through successive generations of such asexualpropagation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It was found that the cultivar of the present invention:

(a) Exhibits lavender pink flowers,

(b) Forms dark green foliage,

(c) Exhibits a good basal branching character and

(d) Exhibits a mounded and trailing growth habit.

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When the new cultivar of the present invention is compared to its maleparent, ‘Temari Violet’, it is found that the new cultivar has largerleaves, more flowers per inflorescence and darker flower color asdetailed in TABLE A.

When the new cultivar of the present invention is compared to‘Balazlavi’ (co-pending U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No.09/808,318), the new cultivar is distinguished from ‘Balazlavi’primarily in petal coloration. When the new cultivar of the presentinvention is compared to ‘Balazdapi’ (co-pending U.S. Plant patentapplication Ser. No. 09/808,204), the new cultivar is distinguished from‘Balazdapi’ primarily in petal coloration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOTOGRAPH

The accompanying photographs illustrate the overall appearance of thenew cultivar as true as it is reasonably possible to obtain coloredreproductions of this type. Color in the photographs may differ slightlyfrom the color values cited in the detailed botanical description whichaccurately describe the actual colors of the new Verbena.

Sheet 1 depicts the growth habit of ‘Balwilapi’ in a garden setting withfour plants in a five-gallon container.

Sheet 2 depicts a side perspective view of three plants of ‘Balwilapi’.The plants were grown in a greenhouse in West Chicago, Ill., U.S.A.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

The ‘Balwilapi’ cultivar has not been observed under all possibleenvironmental conditions to date. Accordingly, it is possible that thephenotype may vary somewhat with variations in the environment, such astemperature, light intensity, and day length.

The chart used in the identification of colors described herein is TheR.H.S. Colour Chart of The Royal Horticultural Society, London, England.The color values were determined on Aug. 15, 2000. The readings weretaken between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. under natural daylight conditions. Theplants used for the descriptions were produced from cuttings taken fromstock plants and grown about 11 weeks after planting rooted cuttings in10 cm pots in a double poly carbonate covered greenhouse in WestChicago, Ill. under conditions comparable to those used in commercialpractice while utilizing a soilless growth medium and maintainingtemperatures of approximately 72° F. during the day and approximately65° F. during the night.

Classification:

Botanical.—Verbena hybrida cultivar ‘Balwilapi’.

Parentage:

Female parent.—‘Quartz Blue’.

Male parent.—‘Temari Violet’.

Propagation:

Type cutting.—Terminal tip.

Time to initiate roots.—Approximately 14-21 days with the shorter timesgenerally being experienced in the summer and the longer times in thewinter.

Root description.—Fibrous, branching.

Plant description:

Habit of growth.—Moderately vigorous with good basal branching. Pinchingimproves basal branching. A mature plant, 8-9 weeks after the plantingof a rooted cutting, commonly measures approximately 29.8 cm in heightand approximately 33 cm in width.

Form.—Mounded and trailing.

Stem.—Tetagonal, approximately 1.6 mm in diameter, with moderatepubescence, 146B with no anthocyanin pigmentation. Internode length isapproximately 2 cm.

Foliage.—Leaves are opposite, ovate with serrate margin, acute apex,base is attenuate to oblique. Texture: Velvety, covered with dense shorthairs on upper surface and along veins on lower surface. Size:Approximately 3.8 cm in length and approximately 2.1 cm at widest point.Color: Upper surface is 139A, lower surface is 137B. Venation:Reticulate and 144D on both surfaces. Petiole: Approximately 6 mm inlength, 144C.

Flowering description:

Flowering habit.—Freely flowering.

Natural flowering season.—Spring through autumn.

Inflorescence type.—Corymb. Approximately 4 cm deep and approximately5.3 cm in diameter with approximately 19 fully open flowers perinflorescence at any one time.

Peduncle.—Approximately 5.3 cm in length, 2 mm in diameter.

Petals.—Five, fused at base, non-overlapping, flat.

Flower.—Diameter: Approximately 2 cm. Corolla tube: Approximately 2.1 cmlong, 150D.

Calyx.—1.3 cm in length, 2 mm in diameter, 5 toothed, 5 ribbed, withstipules. Color: Ribs and stipules are 143A with 144D between the ribs(both surfaces).

Flower color.—Upper surface, fully opened: Between 82A and 82B withstreaks of 83B. Color is 155D near the base and changes to 154C just atthe opening of the corolla tube. Whiskers of 2D surround the opening ofcorolla tube. Lower surface, fully opened: Between 85A and 85B.

Reproductive organs.—There are 4 stamens and one pistil 2 cm in length.Pollen color is 5C.

Seed production.—Seed production has not been observed.

Disease resistance.—Resistance to common diseases of verbena has notbeen observed.

TABLE A CHARACTERISTIC ′BALWILAPI′ ′TEMARI VIOLET′ LEAF LENGTH × LEAF3.8 × 2.1 2 × 1.4 WIDTH-CM PETIOLE LENGTH-MM 6 3 INFLORESCENCE DEPTH × 4× 5.3 2.9 × 4.3 WIDTH-CM #FLOWERS PER 19 16 INFLORESCENCE FLOWERCOLOR-UPPER BETWEEN 82A AND 82B BETWEEN 80A & 81A SURFACE-RHS WITHSTREAKS OF 83B

I claim:
 1. A new and distinct cultivar of Verbena hybrida plant named‘Balwilapi’ substantially as herein shown and described, which: (a)Exhibits lavender pink flowers, (b) Forms dark green foliage, (c)Exhibits a good basal branching character and exhibits a mounded andtrailing growth habit.